As numbers of airline flights have increased to accommodate increasing numbers of air travelers, many of the world's airports, aerodromes, and air fields have experienced a concomitant increase in use that their terminals and other facilities were not designed to handle. In airports with high flight volume, terminal gate space for arriving aircraft to park, unload passengers and cargo, be serviced, and then load for departure is at a premium. As a result, delays are far too frequently the norm as aircraft must wait until cleared upon arrival to proceed to a gate or cleared for pushback to leave a gate at departure. To minimize delays and keep flights on schedule at a busy airport where there are large numbers of arriving aircraft, an airport must supply a large number of terminal parking spaces, at gates or other locations, as well as personnel and service vehicles to direct gate traffic and provide baggage transfer and other services. Similarly, a large number of departing aircraft requires an airport to supply a large number of pushback tugs and personnel to clear parking spaces at a terminal for arriving aircraft. Increasing the numbers of gates or parking locations at an airport might help to alleviate the situation. This potential solution, however, is likely to involve costly and time-consuming permitting and construction of airport facilities that few, if any, existing airports are presently able to undertake.
Most aircraft terminals use passenger loading bridges at gates that are spaced to provide and maintain the necessary clearance between the wingtips of designated kinds of aircraft that park at the gates to transfer passengers and baggage between arrival and departure. If the required clearance between an aircraft scheduled to arrive at a designated gate and the two aircraft parked at immediately adjacent gates is not available, the arriving aircraft cannot taxi to its designated gate until at least one of the other aircraft is pushed back from an adjacent gate. The resulting delay not only leaves passengers in the arriving aircraft sitting in the aircraft on the tarmac, possibly missing connecting flights, but also leaves departing passengers in the terminal waiting. This sort of delay can have a far-reaching domino effect that plays havoc with passengers' and airlines' schedules and can ultimately negatively impact airlines' service and profits. Even when aircraft do not use passenger loading bridges or jet bridges to transfer passengers between the aircraft and a terminal building, space to park the aircraft close to the terminal may not be available when needed, particularly if departing aircraft cannot be pushed back on schedule due to a range of constraints, including possible jet blast from incoming or departing aircraft.
Systems for alleviating aircraft parking at airport terminal gates to avoid delay and shorten turnaround time have been proposed. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,489,299, McClain et al, for example, describe a method and system for parking aircraft at crowded terminals that provides a ground level platform, which is elevated after an aircraft drives onto it so that the aircraft's wings overlap the wings of adjacent aircraft, allowing more aircraft to be parked at terminal gate areas than would otherwise be permitted. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,914,524, Hutton describes a method and system for improving aircraft gate parking at an airport that defines parking spaces at an airport terminal for aircraft of a known type and moves passenger loading bridges to accommodate the minimum clearance required for this type of aircraft. The positions of passenger loading bridges are adjusted as needed to accommodate aircraft arriving at defined parking spaces. A computer-based system with a database of information relating to aircraft arrival times and defined parking space availability in communication with bridge controllers is updated at selected intervals or during peak traffic periods to ensure that aircraft are parked efficiently. The McClain et al system, however, requires disruption of gate areas to construct the disclosed parking platform apparatus, which, once constructed, is likely to be rather unwieldy in operation. The Hutton system could help to alleviate airline or aircraft delays specifically due to parking challenges. Neither of the aforementioned systems, however, addresses other significant causes of airport terminal gate traffic delays, including the availability of tugs or tow vehicles and/or attachment equipment to push back departing aircraft.
Aircraft are currently parked at airport terminals and gates as described and shown in the aforementioned patents with the nose end of the aircraft pointed toward the terminal or gate so that the longest axis of the aircraft is substantially perpendicular to the terminal or gate. This parking orientation is used because an aircraft currently operates one or more of its engines to power aircraft ground travel from a landing location to a parking location. When an aircraft's engines are operating, jet blast and engine ingestion can compromise the safety of persons and ground equipment within the engine hazard area, especially near a gate or terminal where there are likely to be more persons and equipment, as well as other aircraft. When all aircraft are parked in the same nose-in orientation, the danger areas where engine ingestion or jet blast could occur when aircraft engines are operating are at least somewhat predictable. Other aircraft parking orientations besides the currently used nose-in orientation could allow more aircraft to park at gates, stands, or other parking areas near an airport terminal. For example, parking an aircraft with the longest axis of the aircraft body parallel to the terminal or at an angle relative to the terminal other than the perpendicular orientation currently used may actually allow more efficient use of terminal parking space resources. The present need to use aircraft engines to drive aircraft to terminal gates and other parking areas, however, prohibits the use of these aircraft parking orientations because of the risks of jet blast and engine ingestion dangers associated with aircraft engine operation to move an aircraft on the ground.
The use of a non-engine drive means, such as a motor, integrally mounted with an aircraft landing gear wheel to rotate the wheel and move the aircraft on the ground autonomously without reliance on the aircraft's main engines or tow vehicles has been proposed. U.S. Pat. No. 7,469,858 to Edelson; U.S. Pat. No. 7,891,609 to Cox; U.S. Pat. No. 7,975,960 to Cox; U.S. Pat. No. 8,109,463 to Cox et al; and British Patent No. 2457144, owned in common with the present invention, describe aircraft drive systems that use electric drive motors to power aircraft wheels and move an aircraft on the ground without reliance on aircraft main engines or external vehicles. U.S. Pat. No. 7,445,178 to McCoskey et al describes an aircraft ground movement system with electric nose wheel motors that work in concert with an external guidance system intended to move a taxiing aircraft. The drive means described in these patents can effectively move an aircraft autonomously during ground operations, but exploiting the capabilities of aircraft equipped with such drive means to manage airport terminal aircraft gate traffic and parking and to eliminate many of the causes affecting delays of departing and arriving aircraft while improving airport gate operations efficiency is not an objective of such systems.
A need exists for an airport, aerodrome, or air field terminal aircraft gate traffic management system that manages aircraft traffic to eliminate many of the causes for delays affecting departing and arriving aircraft gate traffic and enhances aircraft traffic flow and the efficiency of airport gate operations without the time and expense of designing and building new airports or significantly altering existing airport structures.